I have about 1,200 books in my calibre library. When I do a search for all books by a certain author, they highlight in the entire list of books and I have to scroll through to see each book by that author. Is there a way for it to just list only the books by that author?

I have about 1,200 books in my calibre library. When I do a search for all books by a certain author, they highlight in the entire list of books and I have to scroll through to see each book by that author.

Others have answered your main question, but FYI, like most other highlighted search results in various apps you can go from one selection to the next selection by clicking f3 or n.

You still get the same results as harpangel36 if the button is in the 'highlight' mode. Try it (nothing get harmed)

I did a little experimenting, as suggested. I actually didn't know what the "highlight" mode box was for (always had the red line through it). So I always found it easier to find the author I wanted in the tag browser rather than type the info into the search bar (maybe just laziness ).

I have been using Calibre for years and there are still features that I am just discovering.
Then there are the many different ways (as you just discovered) to get a single result.

(Purpose: to get an idea of what is available)
Read those Balloon tips, that appear when you 'hover' over some area.
Right-click on things to see what the Context Menus offer
Explore all the menus to see what is there (and if you are really adventurous, open Preferences: Tweaks and read those descriptions )

Then Read the FAQ on the Calibre Help page
And as you have found, The forums here at MR